Schoolio's Movie Corner

[Vasoline Groove]

Celeste and Jesse Forever - Intriguing premise, but awful execution.

I watched that on Friday as well. I though it was decent and had enough laughs to keep me entertained. At least it was only 90 minutes so it didn't drag too much. I don't know whats up with comedies these days but 2 hour comedies generally don't work and it seems like a lot of comedies lately have been way too long (aka Bridesmaids, 5 year engagement, etc).

I watched Sound City on Saturday. The documentary by Dave Grohl on the Sound City Studios. Was really entertaining and amazing to see how many great albums were recorded at that place. Good job by Dave on his first film.

[sonofhal]

[schoolofruckus]

All Primer fans in the Bay Area need to jump on this shit:
http://sffs.org/Exhibition/Special-P...eam-color.aspx

[schoolofruckus]

Also, Lars von Trier's The Nymphomaniac has been purchased by Magnolia Pictures. They will apparently not be finished with it until after Cannes, but hopefully it'll land before the end of the year.

[TallGuyCM]

All Primer fans in the Bay Area need to jump on this shit:
http://sffs.org/Exhibition/Special-P...eam-color.aspx

Damn. Lucky.

[schoolofruckus]

It'll be out here during Coachella Weekend 1, playing at the Sundance Cinemas on Sunset.

[schoolofruckus]

Actually, here are all of its engagements:
http://erbpfilm.com/film/upstreamcolor#screenings

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

Lastly, I watched Robert Altman's Nashville yesterday morning. It was fucking amazing. I've had trouble with some of Altman's stuff before, but this movie - seemingly the one where his trademark style was perfected - was a masterpiece, a sprawlingly heartfelt collision of lovers, dreamers, entertainers and string-pullers. It's the kind of thrillingly alive cinematic canvas where it feels like anything could happen at any time. After digging this and McCabe & Mrs. Miller as much as I did, I may need to go on a 70's Altman binge in the near future.

Yes! This movie is astounding.

[ocbruin84]

Watched/listened to Possession (1981) today at work after seeing it referenced on another board. What a crazy movie. Kind of Euro-Lynchian. Anyone else seen it? It's not universally acclaimed but it was weird enough to be entertaining.

[schoolofruckus]

I somehow missed Possession even though Cinefamily played it around 15 times last year. I did, however, see Zulawski's On the Silver Globe:

I liked On the Silver Globe quite a bit more than Chris did, I think. It is unequivocally one of the most bonkers films I've ever encountered - the kind of movie that dares you to doubt its existence even as it unspools in front of you. I've put that description on a variety of films from the masterful The Holy Mountain to the in-no-way-masterful-but-thoroughly-entertaining Southland Tales; yet this one outpaces either of those (and anything else that comes to mind) in its commitment to formal and philosophical audacity and hallucinatory originality. There were stretches where I could have believed that it was literally made on a different planet.

It's a film that has survived a rare degree of butchery. Legend has it that production was shut down in the late 70's by the Polish Minister of Culture (no doubt fearful of Zulawski's complex viewpoints and affinity for the extreme) with a considerable amount of material left to shoot, with costumes and sets and many other resources immediately seized and destroyed. When Zulawski was later persuaded to salvage the surviving footage of his would-be masterpiece, he opted to narrate the unfilmed portions of the script over nondescript footage filmed in then-contemporary Poland rather than attempt to create the film's visionary universe a second time. It's a decision that makes more than a little sense (I can only imagine how creatively exhausting it was to concoct the first time), but in practice - and in tandem with the film's far-reaching plot, which concerns an astronaut's journey to the moon to free a civilization spawned during a previous astronaut mission from the terror reign of a mutant race of bird-men - the result isn't so much a film that you follow as one you chase.

Nevertheless, while it is absolutely a draining experience to sit through, it hung together for me because I felt it was a work of uncommon substance. It's pretty rare to see a film where characters routinely shriek existential poetry in between sequences of orgy and impalement, but Zulawski (in what research suggests is the raison d'etre for most of his work) expertly uses grueling physicality as a gateway to intellectual transcendence; in this case, he has crafted a landmark portrayal of the birth of civilization and the philosophical progression mankind has taken from the spiritual toward the secular. That's a really simplistic way of putting it, and I think I've made it clear this is a film that is absolutely not going to be fully digested on a single viewing (or potentially a hundred). But I am super gratified to see that, contrary to my expectations after last night's screening, it is available on DVD (albeit in 1.33 rather than its glorious native 1.66), and thus I will probably have the chance to refine my impressions of it. Regardless, if you live in New York and you haven't solidified your plans to get loaded for St. Patrick's Day, I would suggest you head down to BAMcinematek. This shit will get you fucked up in ways you can't even dream of.

[bobert]

Lastly, I watched Robert Altman's Nashville yesterday morning. It was fucking amazing. I've had trouble with some of Altman's stuff before, but this movie - seemingly the one where his trademark style was perfected - was a masterpiece, a sprawlingly heartfelt collision of lovers, dreamers, entertainers and string-pullers. It's the kind of thrillingly alive cinematic canvas where it feels like anything could happen at any time. After digging this and McCabe & Mrs. Miller as much as I did, I may need to go on a 70's Altman binge in the near future.

If you haven't seen it already, The Long Goodbye is fantastic 70s era Altman. I watched it on Netlfix for the first time a couple months back and enjoyed it as much as any of his films.

[schoolofruckus]

It's been on my Netflix Instant queue since a minute after I wrote that paragraph, along with Thieves Like Us. California Split is also on my Amazon Instant watchlist.

[xanman86]

SERIOUS BUSINESS GUYS

Criterion's whole HULU catalog is FREE all weekend long!

♥

http://www.hulu.com/movies/criterion

[TallGuyCM]

I saw The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover last night at the New Beverly, and the first thing I said to Matt upon walking outside was "That was INSANE!" I hadn't seen this or any of Peter Greenaway's movies previously, and aside from the things implied by an NC-17 rating (HOLY FUCK HELEN MIRREN), I'm not entirely sure what I thought I was getting into...but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a sensually fetishistic, almost Marquis de Sade-esque tale of adultery juxtaposed with the theatrical artifice of Dick Tracy and formal rigorousness of Brian DePalma. One of Matt's friends mentioned that Greenaway had intended the film as a satire of Margaret Thatcher, which I find amusing....but then, I just found this movie extremely fucking amusing overall.

With the massively NSFW trailer for Greenaway's new one coming out this past week, I decided he's the director I'll delve into in the next few months. Watched ^this tonight, it was the first of his films for me as well. It really felt like I was watching a live play for a lot of it...gorgeously shot, the costume work was phenomenal, probably the most theatrical film I've ever seen. All that aside though, HOLY SHIT THAT ENDING...

[FEELS]

I searched and how is there no posting of the Evil Dead remake trailer? I actually just saw it a couple days ago, and it'll either be one of the most shocking horror films to come out or Hollywood will fuck this up. Hopefully the former since Raimi is producing

[Zafocaine]

I searched and how is there no posting of the Evil Dead remake trailer? I actually just saw it a couple days ago, and it'll either be one of the most shocking horror films to come out or Hollywood will fuck this up. Hopefully the former since Raimi is producing

It looks surprisingly awesome. They took some of the cheese out (it'll be a different franchise without Bruce), but it looks pretty sweet. I'm wondering if they plan on making just this single film, or a trilogy.

[iv3rdawG]

It got an NC-17 but is going to be cut.

[Dogvolta]

Why the fuck is youtube loading like I have a 56K? What is even more frustrating is the advertisements before the video plays load/play seamlessly without any wait, stops, or stutters. But the second the actual video starts, its like my internet has gone to complete shit.
Anyone else having this issue?

On Topic: Evil Dead looks absolutely amazing. I haven't been this excited to see a horror movie in an incredibly long time.

[AlecEiffel]

Watched/listened to Possession (1981) today at work after seeing it referenced on another board. What a crazy movie. Kind of Euro-Lynchian. Anyone else seen it? It's not universally acclaimed but it was weird enough to be entertaining.

I'm late on this one, but I just want to go ahead and say Heinrich is probably the best character ever.

[ocbruin84]

I don't recall his performance as much as the two main characters, or even the strange dude with the pink socks.

[TallGuyCM]

Question - Does anyone know of a good program for the PC that converts .avi files and what not to DVDs that isn't impossible to figure out how to burn subtitles?

The programs I've tried are all impossible.

[VigoTheCarpathian]

The Gene Generation was on TMC last night. It was pretty fucking awful.

[TallGuyCM]

Tonight I watched Louis Malle's Elevator to the Gallows. Absolute perfection. An all-time great film, this one.

[mountmccabe]

We are at an Oscars party drinking Sofia Coppola wine in a can and eating popcorn cookies. Later there will be Blue Velvet cupcakes!

[xanman86]

Tonight I watched Louis Malle's Elevator to the Gallows. Absolute perfection. An all-time great film, this one.

The soundtrack is so great as well. I hope we get a Criterion Blu upgrade soon!

[bmack86]

Walter White is on stage at the oscars. Dear god yes.

[Down Rodeo]

So it usually takes me until after the Oscars to finally finish my list, but it's as complete as it can be for now...

1. Amour
2. The Kid with a Bike
3. The Master
4. Zero Dark Thirty
5. Tabu
6. Lincoln
7. Oslo, August 31st
8. Django Unchained
9. Beasts of the Southern Wild
10. Holy Motors

Honorable Mention: How to Survive a Plague, The Deep Blue Sea, Argo, Moonrise Kingdom, Dark Horse, Killing Them Softly, The Queen of Versailles, Your Sister's Sister, Magic Mike, Bernie

Films I still really want to see: POST TENEBRAS LUX, This is Not a Film, Cosmopolis, The Loneliest Planet, 5 Broken Cameras, Barbara, Neighboring Sounds, The Color Wheel, Rust & Bone, Wuthering Heights, Anna Karenina, The Comedy, Alps, The Sessions, Leviathan, Take This Waltz

[RotationSlimWang]

In retrospect after the Oscars:

Having now seen Argo... wow, that was a pretty mediocre-good film to be making Best Picture. Goes to show one thing that Hollywood loves above all else is patting itself on the back. If you just made a movie about how a mildly retarded guy in cooperation with MGM Studios brought The Holocaust to an end, you'd win awards up and down the fucking aisle.

Hey, look, the whole world's surprised that Seth McFarlane isn't fucking funny. Thanks for finally catching up to Always, dickheads.

I also went back and rewatched Django. Goddammit that is a good movie although I turn away during a couple of scenes just because it's a bit rough to endure. The whole 70s blacksploitation presentation was just awesome. Django and King's theme songs are both hilarious and pretty good music. The end of it still falls off a bit but fuck it, the rest of it is such a relieving change of pace compared to other Westerns.

[bmack86]

It's the anti-Unforgiven

[RotationSlimWang]

Hmm... that's an interesting point. Yeah, it kinda is. Both great, but definitely two distinctly opposite perspectives on how to do the West.